Horror
by Laserfire
Summary: The point of view of Katniss' ancestor, Genevieve, as the very first Hunger Games are announced. One-shot!


**One-shot. The announcement of the very first Hunger Games, in the point of view of Katniss Everdeen's ancestor, Genevieve, who is twenty-one years of age. **

**Disclaimer: I am not Suzanne Collins, nor have I ever been. **

**Horror.**

We could almost smell the smoke, Jack and I, floating over from the ruins of District thirteen. Our neighbours, our friends. All dead.

After we lost, we were rounded up, forced into vans on pain of death. Some took death, but Jack would not let me. He was always the stronger one. "Too many have died," he said, "We must continue, and one day we will be free."

His confidence struck me as odd. We had just lost. I had lost all my brothers and Jack, his wife. But he drilled into me the fact that it was a forced marriage. She never loved him, not like I did. The day my family had died, he'd held me for the first time. His powerful arms held me and I never willed them to go. They were the only thing anchoring me to this world anymore, and to lose them would've meant to lose myself too.

I followed him as we were shoved into the van along with the other survivors, ones they had deemed as none-threatening. Of course, our leader, Benson was shot. Right through the head on live television. Not that I liked him at all, he forced my brothers into war, but the fact that he was leading us to the free world was an offer I could not refuse. Nobody could.

I stepped quietly out of the van, gripping Jack's hand so tightly. The place was smoky. For a second I imagined my very own District Thirteen, but as I stepped forward to sign my name on the chart of survivors, I saw where I really was.

District Twelve.

I looked over at Jack, who was signing the male chart, with two rifles pointing between us. Clearly, our new President wasn't taking chances.

"Sign you name, and fuck off." The man with the gun beside me spat at my feet. I tried to hold back my anger.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Jack asked, standing beside me protectively. The man with the gun. Pointed his rifle at Jack.

"You sign the miners sheet. It's your job now. Mining six days a week. Your bitch over there will have to find her own job. Too good for the likes of you. You should be grateful our leader is lenient," he leaned in closer to us, "if it were up to me, I'd let you all starve."

Then he threw up his arms and laughed.

"Who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and you will!"

Jack spoke as politely as possible, which must have been difficult for him.

"Where are we supposed to live?"

The man pointed his gun at the rubble on the ground.

"Go on. Take some bricks. Build a mud-hut." He sneered at the end and as I was about to spring forward with my fist, Jack ushered me away. We kept walking until we reached a fence. A large sign blocked our view of the forest, but there were many trees in sight.

**Caution: Electric Fence. Poaching is against the new laws of the Capitol, and any caught doing so, will suffer ****death.**

I blinked back tears, staring blankly at the fence that now blocked me from my freedom. I was in a cage.

"Come on." Jack pulled me gruffly towards the right of it. It was a nice sight but the feeling we both felt was that of defeat.

Jack and a few other people helped build houses beside the fence. A real community, I sighed sarcastically but I suppose it was nice to start to know people. Even if we were living in hell. Every once in a while, packages would start appearing, filled with supplies. People opened shops, bakeries, apothecaries, everything we needed to survive but at the rate Jack was being paid, we could hardly get by. But we did, somehow.

I opened a small laundry shop, with a friend of mine, Anibel.

The Peacekeepers named the area in which we lived 'the Seam'. Most of the richer families, lived in the centre of our District. Both Jack and I agreed that the further away we got from them, the further we got from the Capitol and their corrupt laws.

In the space of three months, Jack and I married. A married couple got more money from pay than a normal, for some strange reason they encouraged reproduction and the pay grew higher if your family contained children.

Ruán brought such joy into our lives. We were the Everdeens, Genevieve, Jack and Ruán. As a family, we were happy. As part of Panem, the world contained nothing but horror for us. But back then the thought of something worse was unimaginable.

They gave us exactly twelve years after the war. Twelve years before they unleashed the most painful bomb among us.

My darling, Ruán was only eleven but the entire family was called to the square. The entire District was called to the square. The announcement called that any absentees would suffer death.

I held my son and my husband's hand as we hurried to the square, dressed in our finest clothes as instructed. A ring of Peacekeepers formed around us, children were ordered away from their parents, the eldest being fifteen. I anxiously waited until Ruán was returned within my grasp as I stood with Jack.

A single figure appeared in front of us, one I did not recognise.

His smile sent shivers down my spine.

"Welcome, people of District Twelve. Our fine leader, President Farrow has sent me here to deliver delightful news! From this year forth, we shall prove Panem to be the strongest of all nations! Our children will be fierce some warriors!," I glanced up at Jack nervously.

He continued.

"In celebration of the Capitol's victorious rise to power, we demand two names, one male and one female, of ages twelve to eighteen!" He pointed towards a beautiful woman, wearing hardly anything and who stood beside two balls, each containing several little paper slips. My nerver had eased, seeing as my son was only eleven but the anxiety of finding out what happened next was nearly overwhelming.

"Ladies and Gentleman! Our female tribute shall be..." She placed a thin hand into one ball. I was confused. What was a tribute?

"Laeda Hugars!"

I looked over to the small girl, only thirteen who made her way, uncertainly towards the stage. The woman smiled and said "Come on!" in a squeaky little voice a few times. She positioned the girl in the centre as she placed a hand into the other ball.

"Dill Harris." She read uncertainly. Dill, one of Ruán's friends made his way forward. I could see his mother, Jaqueline's face crumble.

She positioned them beside each other and stood back to let the man carry on. He smiled again.

"Now, my children," He addressed them together," Ever child likes playing games, don't they? Do you like playing games?" He asked and after about two minutes of silence, they both nodded slowly. He clapped his hands elaborately.

"Excellent! Yvie, I do believe we have two eager players this year!" The woman beside him laughed as the children shifted uncomfortably.

" This game is quite important, too. Here you'll be competing against your fellow children from all around Panem for the crown of the victor! There may only be one Victor, so may the odds be ever in your favour! The prize is one luxurious house, in this fabulous District along with a lifetime supply of money. Imagine how many sweets you could buy with that!" He laughed. The children seemed to perk up after hearing the word 'game' but none of the parents were sure.

"How do we win, I hear you say? Well, quite easily! In memory of the victories of our gracious Capitol, all of you children, one boy and one girl from every District, will be put in a vast arena. Survival is the key of winning in this game, though. There may be a few surprises in store! You do like surprises, don't you?"

At this point, Jaqueline's face had gone to a fresh pink to a deathly pale white.

"You will be trained in combat before entering this arena, and this game will consist of a fight to the death! My dear contestants, Welcome! You are the lucky players in the very first Hunger Games!"

As the children were escorted off the stage, I couldn't help but wonder how I could've been so cruel as to bring a child into this world.

**I HOPE YOU LIKED IT!**

**LF xoxo**


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